In need of effective diet/tips

Alright well I have been battling through some serious anxiety problems that crept up on me out of nowhere when I turned 24.  This was last year so I've been dealing with this crap for about a year now.  It's been getting better at times, worse at others.  It's really been a roller coaster year.  Anyway, one theme that NEVER went away during this whole time was my problems going to the bathroom.  At times I thought I was dying because of what was going on with my stool. A few times it was dark green, a lot of the time just regular green, and the others it would just be loose and regular color.  But all the time it's never been like it used to be.  I find that sometimes it stays green for like a week in a row and then finally gets back to it's regular color.

I'm terrible at going to the doctor though.  I've nagged them so much last year when I was going through my anxiety problems that I kind of am ashamed to go back.  I looked and acted like a terrified loser, and kind of feel weird going back there especially with yet another embarrassing topic.  But I've been doing my fair share of reading about this problem, which probably isn't the greatest idea without a doctors recommendation.....but I found that IBS is a very common side effect of people who suffer from anxiety and stress and can be brought on by it.  So....here's my questions

What foods should I be eating?  I read somewhere that I need to look for soluble fibers not insoluble fibers, and stick to a low fat diet.

But what about spices?  Stay away from salts and peppers as well?  Any particular vegetables or types of meats that bring it on that our bodies aren't able to digest best?  I'm fully committed to trying to get my digestive health back in order because I think once I get that down I'll be atleast digesting my food good and receiving all the nutrients I should from my food and hopefully that will help out in my overall health and help with my anxiety?  Who the hell knows, at this point I'm in a hole and need some sort of advice on a way out.  Thanks.

Corn will get me going too.............

I agree that it takes a lot of testing to find out what sets your IBS off, it helps to keep a food diary. I've been diagnosed with ibs for over 3 years now, tho I've suffered from it for most of my life (I'm 21 now). Im still not 100% sure exactly what foods are right or not, but I have found a new natural health product that has worked wonders for me. It's called TuZen, it's a probiotic that is especially formatted for ibs. A family friend told me about it, but my gastro hadnt heard of it. I had to get my pharmacist to order it, but it came the next day. For the first few weeks i thought it was useless, but afer the 3rd week, i started to see dramatic changes. I was no longer constipated, and my stools were of a norma texture and consistency. So although i am still trying to figure out if a certain food is the cause of my problems, this little pill that i take twice a day lets me enjoy more food than i could before. Could be worth a try?

I highly recommend keeping a food diary. I faithfully recorded every single thing I ate or drank, or meds I took for 2 years. Over time, you will begin to see a pattern form that is very helpful in managing IBS.

Here is what I did:

Purchased an ordinary notebook (stores have all sizes right now with back to school sales, I opted for the size smaller than a 1 subject size so it would fit easily into a kitchen drawer, the size you'd use for an address book perhaps).

Used the front page for one day, not front and back of each page. Wrote the date at the top of each page.

Recorded all solids and liquids I had in that 24 hour period. Also, medications, candy, alcohol, etc. All details that are very important to record.

At the bottom of each right hand corner, I took a ruler and drew a line to make a triangle. I rated each day as - great, good, bad. Use your own descriptions but I found that rating each day was again helpful info. Later, often days or weeks, I could flip back thru great days to see what exactly I ate that day or didn't eat. I think made sure I ate those specific foods.

Also, in addition to all of that, you could record times you ate and how much you ate. You may find that plain foods, small meals (4 - 6, instead of 3) might help you. You also may realize that chewing gum, using straws, etc. irritate your GI tract and you should stop both. Just random habits that you think might not be important to note but they are important details! Gum and straws allow you to pull in more air to your gut than you want.

Good luck.